Buffer for automobile-doors.



L.A.BBDARD.

BUFFERFOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS.

APPLIGATIOH FILED JULY 12,1911. y

Patented Api. 9, 1912.

I 7711er@ or lli) LEWIS A. BEDRD, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BUFFER FOR AUTOMOBILE-DOORS.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Apr), 1912.

Application led July 12, 1911. Serial No.' 638,092.

To aZZ whom t may concern.' I

Be it known that- I, Lewis A. BEDARD, of Vvlest Roxbury, Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and .useful Improvements in Buffers for .-h-itoinobile-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cushioning devices to prevent noise resulting from the closing of doors, and has particular reference to that type of such devices known as buffers.

. A most common form of buffer now employed on automobile doors is a strip of rubber secured to the jamb by screws or nails in position to receive the impact of doors', two of" such strips .being often employed, one abovethe other. Such expedients are objectionable because of'y lack of durability and efiiciency, the strips soon becoming hardened and loosened and worn out, and even when new not affording suflicient resilience to serve the purpose intend ed or prevent rattling ofl the door whenclosed and the car is traveling.

The object of the invention is to provide a durable and efficient buffer which is especially adapted to be used where the door jamb isv very narrow and' where it is customary to close the door with considerable force, -as is customary with vehicle doors.

A further object is to provide such a device which, although coniined to the very limited lateral space provided by the width of the door jamb of an automobile, will possess sufficient resilience to hold the door in such opposition to its lock or catch Ito preventrattling Jof the door even when the machine is traveling at ahigh speed.

lith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts substantially as hereinafter described andclaimed.

` Uf the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of an automobile bod)r and door jamb having one of my improved buffers applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2-2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 represents a sect-ion on line 3 3 of F Q. Fig. l vis a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing also, partly in section, a portion of the door closed. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a slight modification in the construction of the casing.

Similar' reference characters indicate the same or similarpart-s in all of the views.

A portion of the body of a vehicle such as an automobile is shown at 10, and the j'amb is indicatedat ll. for the door l2 (Fig. l). The face of the jamb'll-'is narrow, frequently narrower than shown in the drawings, and is recessed or mortised to receive the casing 13 of the device. As shown by comparing Figs. 2 and 3, said. casing is laterally,narrow and vertically elongated. lt is secured in the recess or mortise by screws or nails passing through a. faceplate 14v which may be integral with, or separate from and brazed or otherwise secured to the front end of the casing. The face plate is provided with a vertically elongated opening through which a sliding head1?) is normally projected by a. spring, said head fitting the cross sectional area of the interior of the casing and having a cushion lt? of rubber or :equivalent material removably connected toit as by screws or nails, the heads of the latter being countersunk below the face of the cushion.

Behind the head l5 is a spring 1T having elliptical convolutions, the inner endof said springbearing against the bottom ofthe recess in the jamb or againstany suitable plate provided for the purpose. The ellipticall conformation of? the spring enables it.

to tit snugly within the laterally narrow casing and yet possess the necessary strength and resilience for the purpose intended, and to press the head outwardly withfaittendency to bind in the casing.

The head l5 has end shoulders 18 which slide in the ends of the casing and one end of'the spring between said shoulders. The inner end of the casing has internal lugs orshouldcrs 19 between which the innerend ofthe spring tits and to which said spring may be connected if desired. Said shoulders centralize the spring and prevent it from making a noisy Contactl with the inner walls of the casing. The lugs 01 shoulders 19 may be integral with the casing as shown in Fig. 5. or separate therefrom and secured thereto as shown in Fig@ Q.

At topand bottom, the face plate extends far-enough beyond the casing to form ears throu gh which attaching screws or nails may be passed. l

It will be readily -understood that, with a device located vin a recess or mort-isc of a wooden jamb of such a narrow type, little or no wood can be left to form the outer Wall of such recess. 4'lo'protect thel thin plate with wall and prevent it from being split or knocked away in use, I provide the face a lip or flange 20 having sui1 cient width and flexibility to enable it to be bent backward to fit the side face of the jamb whether that face be at a rightangle to the front face or more or less beveled er inclined. And said lip or fiange is provided with holes for the passage of screws to hold it firmly in position. In practice the side face of the jamb will be slightly mortised for the flange 20 so that the outer face-of the latter will be flush with the adjoining wood surface. This flange, when polished or plated will add to, rather than detract .t'ron'l,- the appearance of the door entrance. Being integral with the t'ace plate and simply bent rearwardly from the latter, it leaves no rough edge to cause damage to the clothing of people passing in or out.

The buffer presents a vertically elongated. cushion of such area that, although restricted as to width, no indenting or cracking ot the door slamming against it can occur.

' Such vertical elongation results in less noise of contact than if a small round buffer pos` sessing the necessary resistance were employed. And the vertical elongation of the spring, due to its an emcient resilience being obtained because of the greater length of the wire, than in a round coil limited to a diameter prescribed by the narrow jamb. It will now be understood that I have proelliptical form, results in.

outer face of the jamb to the inner surface is slight. This last is a practically universal feature of'construction in vehicles. By vertically elongating the spring I am able to get suiiicient spring resistance within the lateral area provided by the widthr of the jamb. And by mounting one end of the spring in the space between the shoulders 18 which latter form. guides in the easing 13 for the head 15, I am able to provide a spring of sufficient length for the purpose, although the depth of the buffer restricted -to a degree less than the the said door jamb.

I claim:

A .buffer for a door jamb, comprising a vertically elongated casing having a face plate provided with an opening and having a flexible flange to protect the wall of a recess containing the casing, a cushion-faced head mounted to slide in the casing, -'and an elliptical spring in the casing to project the head.

In testimony whereof I have Vaitxed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

LEwIs A. BEDARD.

depth of Witnesses: Y

HARK;7 L. ALLEN, PETER W. PEZZETTI.

'caslng is r 

